Maharashtra onion belt gets no relief in Union Budget, farmers vow repeat of LS poll blow to BJP

Dindori, Nashik, Beed, Aurangabad, Ahmednagar and Dhule Lok Sabha seats make up the onion belt of the state, which accounts for around 34% of the country’s onion production. Nashik alone accounts for over 40% of the state’s onion cultivation. Except Aurangabad, where Sandipan Bhumare of the Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde won, all these other seats were lost by the NDA. In Ahmednagar and Beed, relative newcomers like Nilesh Lanke and Bajranj Sonawane of the NCP (SP) trumped BJP stalwarts like Sujay Vikhe-Patil and Pankaja Munde, respectively.

A Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) leader from Balgan taluka of Nashik district said the Opposition has been relentlessly raising the issue of onion prices. “We had asked our leaders to raise the export issue with the Centre. With the Assembly elections round the corner and the Budget not addressing the issue, it may backfire on us,” he said.

“Onion prices were low for most of last year due to the export ban. I thought the government would lift the restrictions in the Budget, but the Centre does not seem to have learnt its lesson. This will continue to be an issue in the Assembly polls. Most of us are hurt by the government move,” a farmer from the Dindori Lok Sabha seat, who said he voted for the NCP (Sharadchandra) in the recent polls, said.

The newly elected Shirur MP of the NCP (SP), Amol Kolhe too, echoed the farmer’s views, slamming the Mahayuti government for “failing to address” the agrarian crisis in the state. “Be it onion or soybean, the government has turned a blind eye to them. It will pay for this in the upcoming Assembly elections,” he said. Soybean is among the main crops cultivated in the backward regions of Marathwada and Vidarbha while dairy farmers have been up in arms against the state government over low realisation. In the Maharashtra Budget tabled on June 28, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar had announced a Rs 5 per litre subsidy for dairy farmers.

In December last year, the Centre had banned onion export, anticipating lower production due to the drought in Maharashtra. In March this year, the Centre “lifted” the ban but with riders – Minimum Export Price (MEP) of $550 per tonne and 40% export duty – a move which traders say has “squeezed” the export chain, pricing their onions much more than that of competing countries.

While onion is trading “satisfactorily” in the Lasalgaon wholesale market, the country’s largest, currently, at between Rs 2,600-Rs 2,800 per quintal, the president of the onion growers’ association, Bharat Dighole, said the trend has held only for the last 15-odd days. “If you calculate the losses, this price would not be able to account for them. Earlier, farmers were forced to sell their produce at throwaway prices. If the government does not take immediate measures, the Lok Sabha trend (with the BJP’s tally dropping from 23 in 2019 to nine) is likely to be repeated in the Assembly polls,” he said.

Even as the outlay for agriculture in the Budget was pegged at Rs 1.32 lakh crore – a 5% jump from last year – the government’s stance on onions has let down the farmers.

“If you see the (Lok Sabha) results, it is clear that the onion farmers prioritised economics over other issues. The younger generation of farmers are not short of information and are not swayed by empty promises and emotive issues,” Jaydutt Holkar, former chairperson of the Lasalgaon Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC), said.